Amer Kobaslija: One Hundred Views of Kessenuma

Fall
2011

Amer Kobaslija: One Hundred Views of Kessenuma

Main Gallery
August 31 - October 7, 2011
Reception: August 31, 5 to 7 p.m.
Artist's Talk: September 1, noon

Amer Kobaslija, Assistant Professor of Art at Gettysburg College, is the newest faculty member in the Department of Art and Art History. This series of paintings reflects his recent travels to the coastal towns of Kessenuma and Ofunato in Japan. He describes, "What I have seen here is beyond anything I have experienced (or imagined) ever before. Miles and miles of debris, rubble, remnants of life... What used to be vibrant scenic communities is now a sea of oblivion. As tragic and horrifying as it all is, the visuals are poetic and almost beautiful in some strange way." Prof. Kobaslija also sees "a strange parallel between my own childhood and a human-caused destruction in Bosnia in the early nineties and the nature/human-caused catastrophe currently developing in Japan. Also, my wife's family is from there, and my heart goes to the people of Japan. My own art and understanding of space is deeply influenced by the Ukiyo-e printmakers of the Edo period."